I think I mentioned in the past that in our Sunday School class we take turns bringing breakfast treats in each week. It turns out that Sunday School is just a little bit better with something good to eat at the same time. I tend to experiment on my friends, and a few weeks ago (or more…my church friends will now know just how long it can take to get a blog post up!), I tried out this new coffee cake as a Sunday School snack. And it was a hit!

The cake itself is light and fluffy, and I couldn’t get enough of the streusel topping. There is a great cinnamon flavor and the sweetness of the cake will have you thinking “I can’t really eat this for breakfast, can I?” I’m here to tell you that you absolutely can – after all, if you’re going to eat cake for breakfast, you might as well go all out.

This recipe makes a lot, and the cake is very filling, so if you’re not serving a crowd, you might want to cut the recipe in half. Oh, and the best part? You can assemble it the night before, leave it in the fridge overnight, and serve warm, fresh out of the oven coffee cake for breakfast in the morning!

Directions:

Make the streusel topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.

Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder (optional - used only for color). Set it aside.

Make the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. It will still be slightly lumpy. Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

Pour half the batter (a scant 3 cups, or 28 oz) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you're using two 9" round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan. Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter. Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter. Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9" round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

*This cake can be assembled the night before, stored in the refrigerator overnight, and baked in the morning. You may have to add 5 minutes onto the cooking time to account for the chilled batter.